Birthday Fool
by Heavenly Pearl
Summary: George Weasley faces his first birthday without his brother. Post series.


Birthday Fool

"April Fool's!"

From the entrance of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, the store's owner George Weasley smiled as he watched a pair of laughing young boys walking past the shop. If the red rings around the shorter boy's eyes were any indication, the other one must have tricked him with a pair of Bull's-eye Binoculars -- one of the shop's best sellers. However, the "fool" took it all in stride, warning his friend to watch his back, and, indeed, he had already taken his revenge, placing a Perma-Stick Jinx Me Sign on the back of the unsuspecting trickster's shirt.

"Sure does take you back, doesn't it, Fred?" George asked with a chuckle, momentarily forgetting his twin brother was no longer there. When nobody answered him, his smiled disappeared, and he cursed under his breath as he turned the sign on the door around to say "Open."

He really needed to stop doing that. Fred had been gone for almost a year, after all, but it still felt strange not to have him by his side when they had spent practically their entire lives together.

It didn't help matters that today was April 1st. Not only was it April Fool's Day, but it was also his birthday. Normally, the first of April was his favorite day of the year, but, this year, he couldn't wait for it all to be over, unable to enjoy the anniversary of his birth without his brother to share it with.

In fact, if April Fool's wasn't the single most profitable day of the year for Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, George seriously would have considered closing the shop and taking a holiday. The last thing he felt like doing today was laughing and joking with customers, who would no doubt expect him to live up to his and Fred's jokester reputations. He just wanted to go upstairs to his flat above the shop and sleep until the day was over.

That was out of the question, though, so plastering a fake grin on his face, he went to help Verity, his shop girl, with one of the displays in the back of the store.

"Looking good, Verity," he said, startling the girl with short, blonde hair, who was busy neatly stacking bottles of Laughing Gas on the shelves. "Ready for today? You know how it gets in here on April Fool's."

"Yes, Mr. Weasley, everything's all set," Verity replied, though she frowned when she turned around to face him.

"What?" Confused, George looked down at his robes, wondering if perhaps he had put them on backwards or accidentally spilled some pumpkin juice on them at breakfast. "Is something wrong?"

"N-No." Verity shook her head, a faint blush streaking her cheeks. "I was just… It's nothing," she insisted, her frown turning into a small smile. "Happy birthday, by the way."

"Yeah, thanks." George felt a flicker of pain in his heart at the reminder, but he ignored it, glad when he heard the tinkling of the bell above the shop door. A group of giggling kids -- among them, the two boys he had seen earlier, one of whom had obviously been jinxed several times -- had just entered the store, providing him with the perfect distraction. "Well, I should see if they need any help. That boy is probably wondering if there's anyway to get the Perma-Stick Jinx Me Sign off his shirt. When you finish with that display, will you go back to the storage room and bring out another box of the Puking Pastilles? I have a feeling those are going to be big sellers today."

Verity nodded. "Yes, Mr. Weasley."

As in turned out, the shop was so busy that George barely had a spare moment to think about either Fred or his birthday, for which he was grateful. Occasionally, he caught one of his more loyal customers giving him the same frowning, pitying look Verity had earlier, aware of the significance of the day besides the obvious, but George chose to overlook them, leaving Verity or Ron, who had come around midday to help as he sometimes did when he wasn't busy with his Auror studies, to deal with them instead.

However, it was not so easy to ignore the series of whispers and looks passed between Verity and his brother when they thought he wasn't paying attention. One time he even caught Ron winking at the pretty shop girl, causing George to wonder if he and Hermione had had one of their infamous rows again.

"Hey, mind the flirting, little bro," he teased a flustered Ron, who face had turned an alarming shade of red that almost matched his hair. "I know Verity's a cute girl, but hitting on other women is no way to get Hermione to forgive you for whatever idiotic thing you did now."

"For your information, George, Hermione and I are doing just fine," Ron said defensively, his face regaining some of its natural color. "But even if we weren't, why do you automatically assume that it would be _my _fault?"

George raised an eyebrow. "Do I even have to answer that?"

"Oh, shut up."

George laughed as Ron turned his attention to another one of the customers, but his little brother seemed to take his advice. For the rest of the day, Ron was on his best behavior in regards to Verity.

When it was finally time to close up shop at nine o'clock, George was utterly exhausted. He didn't know the exact figures, but he knew that they had topped their sales from two years ago, the last time the shop had been open to the public on April Fool's. It more than made up for last year's losses when they had been forced into hiding due to the war and had to resort back to taking mail-orders like they did their last year at Hogwarts.

"Hey, Ron, you mind closing up down here for me?" George said, barely managing to hold back a yawn. "I'm going to go hit the hay." He dug out the key to the shop from inside his robes, surprised when Verity snatched it out of his hand before he could toss it to Ron.

"I can handle locking up, Mr. Weasley," she said. "You should go ahead upstairs with your brother."

For the briefest of moments, George thought she was referring Fred, remembering how she had often said the same thing while Fred was still alive, but realizing she meant Ron, he frowned. "Ron? Why? Shouldn't he be heading back home?"

Verity and Ron exchanged a look that George couldn't quite read.

"Er…well, the truth is, me and Hermione did have a bit of a row this morning," Ron said, rubbing the back of his neck. "She didn't exactly appreciate the prank I pulled on her. It's nothing major, but I think it would probably be best if I didn't go home tonight. There's no telling what she's set up in retaliation."

"Hermione?" George laughed, unable to imagine the straight-laced girl engaging in any kind of prank, even on April Fool's. "The day Hermione Granger decides to pull an April Fool's joke, the world will end. Seriously, Ron, I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Still, I'd rather stay here for the night if you don't mind."

George shrugged. "Suit yourself, then. You can stay in Fr-- I mean, the extra room," he said, catching himself at the last minute.

"Appreciate it."

After saying goodnight to Verity, George and Ron headed upstairs to the flat above the shop. "So, what kind of prank did you pull on Hermione anyway?" George asked as they climbed the staircase.

"W-What?" Ron seemed strangely confused by the question. "Oh, uh, I just gave her a piece of Bubble Gum Glue," he said.

"Can't have been much of a fight then, what with her mouth glued shut and all."

"Yeah, well, Hermione's a whiz at non-verbal spells. Believe me, she made her displeasure known." Stopping in front of the door to George's flat, Ron's voice suddenly became much louder. "In fact, I'm still smarting from that Bat Bogey Hex she threw at me!"

"Hey, you know, I wouldn't exactly be shouting that from the rooftops if I were you," George said, reaching for the doorknob and wondering what had suddenly gotten into his younger brother. "Besides, isn't the Bat Bogey Hex Ginny's speci--"

"SURPRISE!"

Upon opening the door, a group of about ten or fifteen people -- a majority with red hair -- jumped out from their hiding places, noise-makers in their mouths, funny hats on their heads, and colorful, sparking wands in their hands. On the wall directly across from the door, a flashing banner that literally said "Happy Birthday, George!" in a deep, booming voice was hung, and balloons were tied to anything that stayed still. In addition, one of his mother's homemade cakes sat on the table in the center of the room, and a pile of presents had been made in the corner, waiting to be opened.

"W-What are you lot doing here?" George stuttered once he finally got over his shock. Other than Ron, he hadn't seen any of the other guests come into the shop.

"Surprised you, didn't we, mate?" his best friend Lee Jordan said, slapping George on the shoulder. "Verity and Ron snuck us up here one by one when you weren't looking."

"Verity and Ron…?" George glanced over at Ron, suddenly understanding. "So that's what all the winks and whispers were about."

Laughing, Ron pulled Hermione toward him and kissed her on the cheek. "Of course. Did you really think I would risk losing this girl after all the trouble I went through to finally snag her?"

"I should certainly hope not," Hermione teased.

"Well, this is…great," George said, forcing himself to smile despite the overwhelming sadness that had suddenly taken over his heart. It was nice of his family and friends to throw him a surprise birthday party, but it just wasn't the same without Fred there to share it with him. "Thanks, guys."

Almost as if she knew what he was thinking, his mother came forward and enveloped him in a hug. "Oh, George, we miss Fred, too," she whispered into his good ear. Her voice wavered, as if holding back tears, and she held him tighter, almost as if she was imagining she was hugging Fred as well. "Today, especially, but I'm sure he wouldn't want you to be sad on your birthday."

"Yeah, you're probably right, Mum, but…"

After allowing his mother to hold him for a few more moments, George gently pulled away and walked over to table in the center of the room where the cake was sitting, the candles already lit. His mother had baked it into the shape of a clown's face, and across the brim of his hat were the words "Happy Birthday, Fred and George." Confused, George looked over at his mother, who had a sad smile on her face.

"I just couldn't bring myself to make a cake for only one of you," she admitted.

George nodded his understanding, and after everybody sang a chorus of the traditional "Birthday Song," he blew out the candles in one big breath.

Or at least he thought.

One by one, the candles relit. Somebody snickered, and looking up, George was shocked to see his normally uptight older brother Percy hiding his mouth behind his hand.

"Perce?"

Unable to hold in his laughter any longer, Percy called out "April Fool's!"

And for the first time that day, George truly smiled.

DISCLAIMER: The _Harry Potter _series belongs to J.K. Rowling.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This story was the winner of the 2008 .moon Winter Challenge - Holiday.


End file.
